Monday, March 23, 2009

Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup (in the slow cooker or on the stove-top)

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Welcome to my blog! Love your slow cooker? Sign up to receive my emails and you'll never miss a crockpot recipe!This Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup is the most creamy, comforting and delicious soup ever! Whenever I make it I get tons of compliments. It is a favorite with my husband and family and is requested often. Serve alone or with grilled cheese sandwiches for a appetizing, comforting meal.

2. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-7 hours, until flavors are
blended and vegetables are soft.

3. About 30 minutes before serving prepare a roux. Melt
butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour. Stir constantly with a whisk
for 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir
until smooth. Add all back into the slow cooker. Stir and add the Parmesan
cheese, warmed half and half, salt and pepper.
Add additional basil and oregano if needed (the slow cooker does
a number on spices and they get bland over time, so don’t be afraid to always
season to taste at the end).

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Comments:

I'm totally going to have to try this in the slow cooker - I have made it the original way that the family cookbook says and it is sooo good. I've wondered about using milk though - good to know it works! :)

This is my adaptation of the recipe so that I could use my surplus of tomatoes, freeze just the base, and make the soup later.

I didn't use canned tomatoes (you will have to add salt to taste at the end because the canned tomatoes have salt in them) but used fresh so I used a lot more than the cans.

I used about 6 cups blended fresh tomatoes ( at this point I removed all but 1 cup of the tomatoes to make room in the blender for the other veggies). I added the 1 cup celery, 1 cup onion, 1 cup carrots, 2 cloves garlic(the garlic is a must!), the basil and the seasonings except the bay leaves. I tripled the recipe and it filled a large oval crockpot. I added the bay leaves and let that cook all day or you can cook it for a few hours in a pot on the stove if you're home. After it cooled I measured 4 cups and put into quart sized freezer bags. this is my tomato basil soup base.

When you are making the soup, Thaw the bag, add 2 cans or 4 cups chicken broth, heat soup to simmer, in another pot combine the 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup flour to make a rue and wisk in the hot soup one cup at a time. Then wisk in 2 cups of warmed half and half (or whole milk) and add parmesan,( I cut this to 3/4 cup). We served it with french bread for dipping. Yum!

This is a delicious soup recipe. I always like using a hand blender on my soups, so that would be my only change to the recipe. Also, a trick for reducing the fat is to use fat-free half and half, which is just as creamy but with no additional fat. Since I like using real butter in my recipes, using the fat free half and half really helps to control the fat content.

When I think tomatoes and basil and Parmesan I think garlic. So for the last hour I added a whole peeled garlic clove that I will remove when it is time to serve. I also decided to emulsify the soup for a smoother texture. I am very excited to try it! Hope it tastes as good as it smells.

Made this today. It is very good, but wasn't as tomatoey (is that a word?) as I wouldve liked. I actually added a small can of tomato sauce to it and wish I wouldve had some tomato paste because it still wasn't tomatoey enough for me. Will def make this again.

Karen- The garlic was perfect in it! Just gave it a little bit of garlic flavor since I took the clove out at the end. I am sure it tastes great without it but we like to eat garlic in everything! The family LOVED IT! So glad I found the recipe on Pinterest!

This is the BEST soup! I have made it ... well, i'm making it right now & I believe it is the 4th time. In a very short period! My in-laws are coming today. We had a dinner party last weekend & i served it then too. Always a hit. SO SO GOOD! :) Thanks!

I made this last night. I used fat free half and half to make it lighter. I also used a hand blender to hide all of the veggies from my picky hubby :) I didn't have any problems with the cheese. I used the grated kind of added just a little at a time stirring it in well before adding more. Will be making this again!

Has anyone tried to make this soup in a regular cooking pot(not a slow cooker)? I do not own a slow cooker right now (I am living in another country so my US electronics do not work), but wasn't sure what the times for cooking would be???

I LOVE THIS RECIPE!!! I blogged about it here: http://sweatlikemambo.com/2012/01/25/inspiration-silverlake-and-the-de-flowering-of-my-crockpot/. Thank you so much for sharing. This was my first crockpot recipe EVER, and I am sold now!

Ohmygoodnessgracious, I just found this recipe through Pinterest and I cannot wait to make it!! I will be paying you homage on my blog with this soup very soon! Thanks! ~ Lauren with From Everyday To Gourmet

to the person who was asking how to make it not in a crock pot. I have done it twice. I am gone from home too long to cook it in a crock pot. I chopped my veggies up in my food processor. I cooked the onions in some olive oil about 7 min till they were clear and soft, then added and cooked the carrots and celery for about 10 more min. I then pulsed the tomatoes in my food processor and dumped them in the mix. Added the chicken broth and all the spices and cooked for about 45 min or so on my stove top on med till the veggies were cooked down and soft. Then pretty much followed the rest of the recipe Turns out great!

Sometimes I just don't want to have stuff in the crock pot all day so I pureed all the veggies, then added all ingredients EXCEPT the cheese to a regular stock pot and used an immersion blender to make it completely smooth. Brought to a light boil, then brought the heat all the way to low and simmered, stirring often, for 30 minutes. I served this with a nutty fruit bread and it was really, very good and a great go-to recipe for busy weeknight! Topped with cheese before serving. ;)

Thank you so much Karen. I decided to make this due to a pint of cream that I was getting worried about in the refrigerator. This soup is amazing! You have definitely made me a tomato soup fan. It makes me think of this other tomato soup at a hotel (and the chef was not willing to share). My family and I appreciate your sharing!

This soup is super yummy! I made it with skim milk and it still tastes amazing! I also cheated and added the melted butter/flour mixture directly to the soup instead of how the recipe states to do it...what can I say, I'm not a fan of doing dishes:)

Found this on Pinterest and made it this week. Oh.My.Goodness! My hubby isn't a tomato soup fan but chowed on this! Served with a nice loaf of sourdough :-)I was gone for 10 hours at work so Phase One was in the crock pot that whole time and it turned out great. Can't wait to make this again!!! Thank you!

Just wondering how this freezes? It looks sooo good, and I have a huge crockpot. If I made it, I'd probably double the recipe and freeze half. Should I omit the cream to half of it and add in when thawed? Any thoughts?

This soup is wonderful!!! I used less butter, more veges and fat free half and half and it was delish! I also included some shredded chicken to increase the protein (my hubby doesn't consider soup a meal unless there is meat in it:) and it was really good. Thanks for the great recipe! Its a new staple in our household!

The soup was great! I did three things differently. I cooked everything on HIGH for 4 hours. In addition after the four hours were up I put everything in the blender. After the blender I put it all back in the crock pot. Added the parm cheese and FAT FREE Half and Half. Cooked it for ten more minutes. Came out creamy, delicious and super healthy. No need for flour or butter.

Haven't made this yet but for the cheese issues I've read, you can buy the pieces of rind at the cheese counter and add them to the soup while it is cooking, will give the cheese flavor and then just top with your grated cheese when you serve it.

I made this a while ago in the crock pot and it was delicious!!! We had it with turkey meatloaf. I'm looking up the ingredients so I can make this during the blizzard. I can't wait to make this again. This time we'll have it with turkey meatballs. Thanks for this great recipe!

I have made soup very similar to this for years, the recipe was shared with me, the tomatoes, onions, celery, basil, grated carrots, everything except the cheese, roux, and half and half. I have loved this soup without these ingredients. I can't wait to try it with the creamy ingredients!

Ok so I just made this soup, on the stove top, and it totally tastes and smells of throw up. I don't know what I did wrong, because I followed the recipe. I also have had this soup before when a friend made it.... so this is totally weird. Any insights???

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Hi! I'm Karen

I know that dinner time can
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